Out of Our Minds Chamber Music – Take Four (Piano Quartets by Mahler and Brahms)

OUT OF OUR MINDS CHAMBER MUSIC TO FEATURE PIANO QUARTETS BY MAHLER AND BRAHMS

LA CROSSE, Wis. – The third concert of the Out of Our Minds Chamber Series will feature pianist Mary Ellen Haupert and the Druzhba Trio – violinist Michelle Lee Elliott, violist Busya Lugovier, and cellist Derek Clark. Their program features Mahler’s Piano Quartet in A Minor (1876) and Brahm’s Piano Quartet No. 2, Op. 26, which will be performed in Viterbo University’s Nola Starling Recital Hall on Sunday, February 11th @ 3:00 PM; it is free and open to the public.

The Druzhba Trio (which means friendship in Russian) was formed by violist Busya Lugovier. It was out of friendship and admiration that she asked violinist Michelle Lee Elliott and cellist Derek Clark to be part of this fine ensemble. When not playing in the trio, these three exceptional La Crosse musicians can be seen and heard on all stages in the La Crosse area.

Mahler’s Piano Quartet in A minor was composed in 1876 when he was just 16. It is his first known work and composed while still a student at the Vienna Conservatory. While there is a dark, brooding quality to it, anyone hearing it for the first time would be hard pressed to identify it as a work by Gustav Mahler. The more mature Johannes Brahms premiered his Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26 a few years earlier in November 1862 with Brahms himself as pianist, the performance taking place in Vienna with members of Joseph Hellmesberger’s Quartet. The two works are expressive and passionate; both composed by exceptional composers of the Romantic period.

The concert is free and open to the public. There will be a free will offering to cover artist fees and marketing expenses.